A TVET College in Free State has signed an acknowledgement of debt agreement with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for millions of unallocated NSFAS funds meant for students.
Motheo TVET College has agreed to pay R38, 686, 477 back to the NSFAS following the unit's investigation into the funds that the institution could not allocate between 2017 and 2022.
According to SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago, the unallocated funds are monies that were meant for students who qualified for funding but either changed institutions or deregistered.
“The funds stayed in the institution’s possession for a year and were supposed to return to NSFAS at the end of the period,” said Kganyago.
He said the college had agreed to pay back NSFAS in monthly installments.
“Motheo TVET College has agreed to a monthly installment of R855 679.91 over a period of 60 months,” Kganyago said.
He said the college was the first to sign an acknowledgement of debt (AoD) since the inception of the SIU.
“Whether the institute ended up misusing the money, we would not know, but what we are concerned with is that institutions pay back the money, and they were only able to pay back in installments unlike other universities that were approached and paid the money upfront,” said Kganyago.
“The SIU encourages other institutions of higher learning to come forward and pay back unallocated funds due to NSFAS. It’s better that they pay before us approaching them and asking them to pay it back. The SIU has so far recovered over R421,3m from institutions of higher learning,” he said.
This is months after preliminary investigations by the SIU revealed that more than R5bn NSFAS money was possibly allocated to students who did not qualify to be funded.
“The SIU is, in terms of Proclamation R88 of 2022, authorised to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of NSFAS and to recover any financial losses suffered by the state through corruption and negligence,” said Kganyago.
Kganyago said the main aim of the investigations was to assist students who really needed the money.
“The money returned is not necessarily just going to NSFAS but back to students who really need it and that is why they are adamant on the unallocated funds to be returned,” said Kganyago.
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